I need to raise my progesterone levels as fast as I can HOw?

My progesterone levels are just about nil. Only a whopping "2" My estrogen is much higher than that. I have been taking nat. progesterone cream bought over the internet but in 2-3 months have not succeeded in bringing my blood or saliva levels up from the 2. What is happening here? Do I need to wait for the compounding appt. I have? Should I switch brands? I did n't take the 3-7 days off for 3 months trying to get it up and now I am so messed up hormonally. I am gassy, bloated. What have I done to myself? My pharmist can't understand why those levels have not come up with the cream I bought otc. It seems like my body likes to turn everything into estrogen. I read somewhere that some women are genetically "estrogenic". I took nat. progesterone plus a tiny amt of estriol and now I constantly have sore breasts, belching, gassy. and no I don't have a gallbladder either. I have always had high estrogen not balanced with progesterone for years , I think that is one reason I lost my gallbladder. Are there estrogen receptors in your stomach and intestines. I'm a little nauseated also. My chirop. who is very knowledgeable said I Messed up my system not taking the required breaks. My body doesn't seem to break down drugs like normal ppl. I can get away with child's doses of meds. Should I be asking for prometrium from my gyny instead of the cream from the compounding pharmist? I've been drinking soy milkshakes, only a small portion not a serving each day. Maybe that is causing bloating and gas. I just can't figure out what to do to get the progesterone up and the estrogen down. WOULD EXERCISE HELP THIS??
HHHEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPppp !!! Thank you

Yes, soy can give gas and it does that to me. Soy is a bean so this makes sense. You might not be able to eat soy, but apples and carrots are natural estrogen foods.

I just have been using the vivelle patch for 4 years and have been pretty satisfied with it. My doctor says I don't really need progesterone, but I tried some anyway and it made things worse for me.

My doctor has not gone by the numbers, he goes by my symptoms, because the numbers never match how I feel. I may feel hot flashes, and yet be dominant by the numbers so lowering the hrt to lower the numbers will make me more miserable. I take the lowest dose that will manage my symptoms and have the least side effects.

I have found that exercise, like daily walking, is great for the body and circulating hormones in the body properly. You may want to look at the foods you are eating, as a lot of raw fruits and veggies can give bloat and gas.

I would make a list of my symptoms and concerns and bring them with you to the doctor to discuss your issues.

I don't know of any way to raise one's progesterone levels except by adding the hormone to the body.

my estrogen is in the normal range so they say. I have estrogen dominance because of the poor ratio of progesterone to estrogen. I was using the soy milk and shakes to counterbalance the stronger estadiol. Soy is a weaker plant estrogen that blocks your own estrogen.
I put up with the yeast infections, sore breasts, being cold at times.
I have been using nat. progesterone bought over the net maybe its not strong enough. Am picking up my compounded hormones tomorrow. Hope compounded hormones make the difference. Adrenal insufficiency plays a role in my imbalance. I'm surprised your dr didn't also prescribe progesterone either nat. or synthetic. Do you have any problems sleeping or with anxiety or depression? I thought progesterone was needed to maintain estrogen receptor sites. how did the progesterone make it worse? i would greatly appreciate knowing. which progesterone did you use, natural or synthetic?

I used natural progesterone and a high enough dose recommended by Dr. Lee who promoted the idea of progesterone cream, and it made me have more hot flashes and depression.

I used progesterone cream alone prior to my hyst when I had hot fashes then and had my ovaries, and it worked for me then. I think in some people it may not work for them if their ovaries are out.

My taking estrogen alone has helped my depression and hot flashes so I tried to add the progesterone to see if a little of the fluid retention would go away, it helped,but sluggishness and mood problems. I decided I could live with the slight fluid retention, and realized there is no perfect hormone balance but you can get close enough.

I am on a child's dose of an anti dep. and a small chunk of an anti anx. pill. Would like to get off all of these eventually within months if possible. Thats why I started compounded hormones. I just started compounded hormones (prog. test, and dhea) last night. I woke up during the night with hot feet and hot hands and tingling in my arms. What was going on there? Should I keep taking it? My dose is so low, I barely dose myself even near .5mg. Pharmist said to start very low as I am sensitive. I think I did better on just estriol bought over the internet and nat. progesterone cream. Does it take away to adjust? I don't want to wake up like this everynight. I read where dhea can give you energy but he told me to take it at night. About ready to go back to what I was doing before. with the internet hormones.

I think for me I feel comfortable with a perscription from doctor rather than internet, because we really do not know what is in them , or if they are good quality, as they are not FDA approved. You might get a good batch one time and the next you may not.

When you decide what type and dose you are to be on , give it at least a month for your body to adjust before changing anything. The body cannot handle frequent changes, and you may think something is off ,and actually it is needing the time for the body to accept and use it.

I just use the estradiol patch, take multivitamins, calcium plus D, and exercise regularly. The exercise helps circulate the hormones in the body.

Ann,
Depending on the time of the month a 2 is not out of the question for a normal progesterone level. My docs used a scale that was 0-2 with 2 being the highest level of course. So it may be completely normal. Is your estrogen level off the charts? You may need to take a break from the progesterone now. I don't know about totally screwing up your system because you took it for 3 months. Sometimes that is suggested for very serious imbalances. I also took Prometrium for 2 months straight prior to an ablation as when I stopped for a couple of days I started flooding so back on and bleeding stopped. "Screaming to be Heard," by Dr. Vilet is a very good book that talks a lot about progesterone and what it can do to the body. At first it can be calming and as strong as Valium, but overtime like Valium it can cause depression. I also am a person who has this reaction and it may not be the progesterone converting to estrogen, but the progesterone is high enough for you and is causing some reactions. Especially since you noted cold flashes and various other things it could be your progesterone is actually knocking out some of the estrogen benefits. When my progesterone gets too high I get sore breasts also. I just recently, like you was doing prog. cream and estriol over the internet and got too heavy handed with the progesterone and had to back off due to crying and sore breasts. I never cried when I tried estrogen alone. It always made me happy. It's just that after awhile I got terrible migraines so like you I am also very sensitive. It's very frustrating. Be careful though like the ladies have all said with progesterone. Sometimes estrogen may be all we really need. I just haven't figured out which one will work for me without migraines.
Hugs,
Tara

My progesterone levels are just about nil. Only a whopping "2" My estrogen is much higher than that. I have been taking nat. progesterone cream bought over the internet but in 2-3 months have not succeeded in bringing my blood or saliva levels up from the 2. What is happening here? Do I need to wait for the compounding appt. I have? Should I switch brands? I did n't take the 3-7 days off for 3 months trying to get it up and now I am so messed up hormonally. I am gassy, bloated. What have I done to myself? My pharmist can't understand why those levels have not come up with the cream I bought otc. It seems like my body likes to turn everything into estrogen. I read somewhere that some women are genetically "estrogenic". I took nat. progesterone plus a tiny amt of estriol and now I constantly have sore breasts, belching, gassy. and no I don't have a gallbladder either. I have always had high estrogen not balanced with progesterone for years , I think that is one reason I lost my gallbladder. Are there estrogen receptors in your stomach and intestines. I'm a little nauseated also. My chirop. who is very knowledgeable said I Messed up my system not taking the required breaks. My body doesn't seem to break down drugs like normal ppl. I can get away with child's doses of meds. Should I be asking for prometrium from my gyny instead of the cream from the compounding pharmist? I've been drinking soy milkshakes, only a small portion not a serving each day. Maybe that is causing bloating and gas. I just can't figure out what to do to get the progesterone up and the estrogen down. WOULD EXERCISE HELP THIS??
HHHEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPppp !!! Thank you

I use natural progestrone cream 1/2 tsp per day in 1/4tsp twice a day. The name brand is Dr. Choice. I also am using tri-estogen cream (natural). 1/4 tsp per day.
This is working well for me. It has taken about 2-3 weeks to work.

I am so relieved to have read about someone else getting sore breasts and feeling worse with progesterone! I thought I was mis-reading my body. There is so much hoopla about needing progesterone! I read Dr. Villette's book a long time ago, and I think she is the only one in a sea of doctors who talk about the negatives of progesterone!! For me, I always felt the worst from ovulation until my period was done!! My best week was when there was no progesterone being produced by my ovaries... before the time of ovulation. Now with having no periods, I don't know what is going on in my body!! I don't miss having periods, but I feel so lost in my own body!! Sorry to go on.... it's been hard trying to figure out how to supplement which hormone when. I have been using progesterone...prescription, and have been having the worst time with it, but pursued it based on what I have read. My body has become so sensitive, I'm not sure if I can handle any hormones, but I feel awful when I do nothing! Did you say that you are dealing with adrenal insufficiency? If so, how have you been addressing that?
Thanks for your post

Ruthless,
Yes I have adrenal fatigue. This is probably alot of my problems with hormone imbalance. I can't take the supplements. e.g bovine adrenal but I do take magnesium, a high dose of water soluble mag. I found on the net, B 6 , B12, and B 5 (Pantothetic acid) I also drink juice, for the vit. c. Time is what it takes to get over adrenal fatigue. Depending on how bad you are, it can take months to years. about 1-2 years I heard for severe. So depleted adrenals need the b vitamins, a good multi, which I'm working up to because of chemical sensitivities, Vit. c. and B 5 or pantothetic acid. Been doing this for several months also adding protein at every meal. hope I helped